Denouncing politcal extremism, violence

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If you have followed the political scene over the last year and read the Globe on a consistent basis, you probably have seen some of my articles in this section. It’s no secret that I’m a God-fearing Republican who has trouble agreeing with any form of socialist idealism and the agenda that many Democrats have. I lost myself last year in the midst of the Trump campaign, and allowed myself to become subject to the ideas of the incredibly far right. I was an avid Trump supporter – you can ask my roommates how extreme it was. I actually implore you to ask Tyler Richey because our debates were something else.

I was blind to the idea that the Republicans might possibly have made a mistake, but they did. However, there’s a myriad of reasons why things in the political scene go the way they do. Trump is not entirely to blame; though I won’t lie, the man seems like a spray tanned, wig wearing version of Kim Jong Un. I’ve taken the heat for the opinions I once had, but I cannot stand by anymore and watch as Antifa groups harass fellow young Republicans.

Did some of us make the mistake of voting for a bigot? Yes, and I think the vast majority (minus the extremely right-wing minority) sorely regret it. That doesn’t mean we are not going to stand by our beliefs as conservatives. We do not believe in a utopian society that is often associated with the Democrats, and we acknowledge that too much government leads to too many issues. Antifa groups, however, have made it a point to attack young Republicans and shame them for their beliefs. If Antifa is so against hate and violence, why do they condone lashing out at college students and shaming them for having a different view?

Just this past weekend thousands of Antifa members and supporters attended a rally in Berkeley, Ca. What I suppose they intended to be a peaceful protest, quickly turned violent as 100 masked members of Antifa attacked a group of Trump supporters. This group used a hose to spray conservatives with pepper spray. I am not saying that some of the people there were not of the alt-right, but that does not give you the right to dress up in masks and black hoods and call yourself peaceful protesters.

Newsflash: Antifa is committing the same acts of violence that alt-right groups do, but they wear black hoods instead of white ones.

It appears to me that the Antifa groups are nothing more than cowards who want to do nothing but create a scene because they are upset that things don’t go exactly their way.

Now, I’m not saying they shouldn’t protest the aggressive acts of Nazism that we saw in Charlottesville, but they have no right or just reason to attack college students. If these people wanted to get their message across, then they should be out protesting more of the Nazi gatherings we are seeing, not college students.

An African-American man who wore a Young America Foundation hat was assaulted by these thugs at a vigil after the Charlottesville riots. They pushed this man into the street simply because he was at the event trying to prove that Republicans can be peaceful.

These groups of conservative-hating trash are no different than that of the KKK, though I can’t condemn them like Nazi groups because they haven’t exactly slaughtered entire groups of people.

Hating somebody for their political views is absolutely unacceptable. It is no different than hating somebody for their skin color or religious beliefs. I pray and hope that Point Park will do their best to defend the conservative students on this campus if one of these groups were to come to Pittsburgh.

Hate is hate. Whether we’re talking about Nazis, the KKK, Antifa or just a racist in general. It’s wrong, and we need to defend our peers. Our student body is incredibly diverse in so many ways. Don’t be tempted by Trump, don’t be tempted by the KKK, don’t be tempted by Antifa.

Our campus should be a place of political, social, racial and gender growth and acceptance.